Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-09-24
s. 90 II Ss :.
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4 HISTORY OF ADVENTURE
BY Il. RIDER iAGG5RD.

strewn sky? Does any answer come out
Of il? Never any at all; nothing but echoes
and fantastic visions. And yet we believe
that there is an answer, and hat upon a
time a new dawn will come blushiug down
the ways of our enduring night. We be
lieve it, for its reflected beauty even now
shines up continually in our hearts from
beneath the horizon of the grave, and we
call it Hope. Without Hope we should
suffer moral death, and by the help Of
Hope we yet may climb to Heaven, or at
the worst, If she also prove but a kindly
mockery given to hold us from despair, be
gently lowered into the abysses Of 1ernal
sleep.
Then ! fell to rejecting upon the under
taking on which we were bent, and what
a wild one ii was, and yet how strangely
the story seemed TO fit iii with what had
been written centuries ago uponthe sherd.
Who was this extraordinary woman, queen
over a people apparently as extraordinary
rs herself, and reigning amidst the vestiges
of n lost civilization? And what could be
the meaning OF this story of the Fire that
gave intending life? Could it be possible
that any fluid or essence could exist that
could SO fortify these fieshy walls that they
should from age to age resist the mines and
gatherings Of decay? It was possible;
though not probable. Tie indefinite con.
~tinuation of life would not. after all, be
half Sc marvellous a thing as the production
of life and its temporary endurance. And
if it were true, what then? The person
who found it could no doubt rule the world.
He could accumulate all the wealth in the
world. and all the power, and all the wis.
dom that is power. He might give a life.
time 70 the study of each art o. science.
Well, If that were SO, n this HJ!6 were
practically immortal, which ! dif not for
one moment believe, how was it tAat, with
all these things ut her feet, she preferred
10 remain in a cave amongst a society Of
oannibals? That surely settled the ques.
ton. The whole story wa monstrous, and
Un,y worthy Of the superstitious days In
which iC was written. 1t any rate | was
very sure that ] would not attempt to at
tain %unending life. | had had far too
many worries and disappointments and
secret bitterneSses during my forty odd
years OF existence to wish that this state
Of affairs should DO continued indefinitely.
And set | suppose that my life has been,
comparatively speaking, a happy one.
And then, rejecting that at the present
moment there was far more likelihood Of
our earthly careers being cut exceedingly
short than Of their being unduly prolonged,
| at last managed TO get to sleep, a fact for
which anybody who reads this narrative,
If anybody ever does, may very probably
be thankful.
When woke again it was just dawning,
and the guard and bearers were moving
about like ghosts through the dense morn
ing mists, getting ready for our start. The
fire had died quite down, and | rose and
stretched myself, shivering i'm every limb
from the camp cold Of the dawn. Then L
looked At Leo. He was sitting up, holding
his hands TO his head, and | saw that his
face was flushed and his eye bright, and
yet yellow round the pupil.
We'll, Leo" | said, "how DO you feel;"
Il feel as though | were going to die"
he answered hoarsely. "My head is split
ting, my body is trembling, and / am as
sick as q cat"
Iwhistled, or if / did not whistle, l felt
inclined to-Leo had got q sharp attack of
fever. | went to job, and asked him for
the q%uinine, of which fortunately we had
still a good supply, only to find that job
himself was not much better. He COM
planned of pains across his back, and diz-
LllltSS, anu was tiftOSt 11CdpdDlc I'll ItlD-
ing himself. Then I did the only thing
it was possible to do under the circum-
st~ances-gave them both about ten grains
Of quinine, and took q slightly smaller
dose myself as q matter Of p%recaution.
After that | found Billali, and explained
TO him how matters stood, asking at the
same time what he thought had best be
done. He came with me and looked at
Leo and Job (whom, by the way, he had
named the Pig, on account of his fairness,
round face, and small eyes,.
"Ah," he said, when we were out OF ear
shot, 1.-The feverl thought SO. The Lion
has it badly; but he is young, and he may
live. AS for the Pig, his attack is not 50
bad; it is the little fever that he has; that
always begins with pains across the back;
it will spend itself upon his fat"
"Can they go on, my father" l asked.
NAY, my son, they must go on. If they
stop here they will certainly die; and be-
sides, they will be better in the filters than
on the ground. BY tonight if all goes
well, we shall be across the marsh and in
good air. Come, let us lift them into the
litters and start, for it is very bad to stand
still in this morning fog. We can eat our
morning meal as we 60"
This we accordingly did, and with a
heavy heart | once more set out upon our
strange journey. For the first three hours
all went az we'll as could be expected, and
then al accident happened that nearly lost
us the pleasure of the company Of orr ven
cradle friend Billaii, whose litter was lead
ing the cavalcade. We were going through
a particularly dangerous piece Of quag-
mire, in which the bearers sometimes sunk
up to their knees. Indeed. it was n mys-
terry TO me how they contrived to carry the
heavy filters at all over such ground as
that which we were traversing, though the
two spare hands, as well rs the four rcgu-
lar ones, had Of course to put their shou.-
ders TO the pole.
Presently, rs we Numbered and foun-
dered along, there was a sharp cry, then a
storm Of ordinations, and, last Of all, a
most tremendous splash, and the whole
caravan halted.
/ jumped out Of my litter and ran for
ward. About twenty yards ahead was the
edge OF one of those sullen peaty pools Of
which have spoken, the path we were
following running along the top of it's
bank, which, as ii happened, was n steep
one. Looking toward this pool, to my hor-
ror | saw that Billali's litter was floating
on it, and as for Billali himself, he was
nowhere to be seen. To make matters